The Boston Celtics are going to be major players on the buyout market and could be enticed by bringing back some former players, many of whom were featured in the Brad Stevens coaching era.
Now, he is the main guy calling the shots and constructing this puzzle of a team.
Right now, the C’s sit sixth in the Eastern Conference standings, up by a hair over the Toronto Raptors.
Toronto looks locked in, Philly and Brooklyn are retooling their squads after their major blockbuster trades, and keeping the current momentum could mean the difference between the play-in and playoffs.
One evident weakness on this Boston Celtics team is back-end depth on their bench, which has been one of the weakest second units in all of basketball.
It is time to bolster that unit and give yourself the ability to go 10-11 deep if the need arises.
Historically, teams with weak benches do not go on deep playoff runs, much less vie for an NBA Championship.
It’s all about that next man up mentality and the end of the pine, as it stands, is as shallow as a kiddie pool.
The goal of filling out the remainder of the three open roster spots should coincide with having injury insurance. Say an older Al Horford or injury-prone Marcus Smart succumbs to a suit on the sidelines, there needs to be another line of reserves in this Army.
This is why Stevens needs to be a heavy buyer for the C’s post-trade deadline. He should consider a cast of former shamrocks to fill these remaining slots.
Here are 3 former Boston Celtics players that need to come back to the team:
Former Boston Celtics player No. 1) Greg Monroe
It has been a minute since big man, Greg Monroe, donned green and white for the Boston Celtics.
He was a very serviceable backup center for them en route to game seven of the Eastern Conference Finals back in 2018.
Moose, as they call him, has been retooling his game to survive in the NBA.
Once a back to the basket center resembling the traditional bigs of leagues past, now more of a complete player desperate to remain in the game of basketball.
The 10-year veteran is in the midst of a comeback of sorts after a string of multiple 10-day contracts of the COVID hardship variety with Minnesota, Washington, and now Milwaukee.
The former lottery pick will soon be done with his latest stint that began a week ago.
The Bucks’ addition of Serge Ibaka, the eventual return of Brook Lopez looming, and the rise of Bobby Portis make Monroe incredibly unlikely to remain with the team.
Making him one of the hotter free agent names to grace the market in hopes of filling out a playoff team’s bench.
Why not Boston?
Brad Stevens is incredibly familiar with his playstyle and what he brings to the table as a player from his 37 game stint with the Celtics back in the 2017-18 season.
The 6-11 center offers a high basketball IQ, a decade worth of playing experience, and injury insurance behind the Celts lead bigs.
We are over a month removed from seeing him up close and personal, when he came off a plane and dropped 11 points, nine rebounds, and six assists en route to the Timberwolves’ upset over Boston.
One area of the game that the veteran has seemed to add is his silky playmaking touch out of the post. Also, in many games, he seems to be a positive in plus-minus when it comes to the defensively post more than not.
Greg Monroe is absolutely worth a look as a third-string backup center for the Celtics. You can never have enough reinforcements should a key player go down.
Former Boston Celtics player No. 2) Gerald Green
The man with nine fingers and a shamrock in his hair, Gerald Green.
After two incredibly memorable stints with the Boston Celtics, he is seeking another NBA comeback.
Should the C’s take a flier on this high flyer?
The answer is undoubtedly a yes!
Surely Brad Stevens remembers putting the veteran in the starting rotation to overcome the Chicago Bulls in playoffs years ago, going with a smaller, quicker lineup seemed to spell success for the C’s.
Yes, that was then, this is now, but at 36-years-old the wing can still bring a positive impact on any team.
The Celtics could use more end-of-the-bench leaders and capable shooters.
Green boasts a career 36 percent shooting clip from beyond the arc and his ability to have a high release on his jumper makes for a secret weapon.
The 12-year veteran knows what it takes to win in this league being a part of multiple deep playoff runs with not only Boston but with the Houston Rockets as well.
His 68 career playoff games played would already supersede most of, if not all of the current Boston Celtics roster.
We should consider filling out the roster with a win-now identity.
It is also imperative to have more wing depth behind Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. Should either star go down, we need someone to give us a needed punch to stay competitive.
This is why the C’s need to bolster their bench to avoid a disaster if and when injury strikes.
A former fan favorite returning who gave his all in Boston should only be seen as a positive. He was drafted by us and grew here as a player.
Why not join a surging Celtics team hunting for the elusive banner 18?
Gerald reportedly left his role as player development coach for Houston to pursue an NBA comeback, and he’s rounding into form in the G-League right now.
Former Boston Celtics player No. 3) Carsen Edwards
Not many players had a more disappointing offseason than former Boston Celtics guard, Carsen Edwards.
The soon-to-be third-year pro was shipped from Beantown to the Memphis Grizzlies and then promptly waived before he could even throw on a jersey.
There was not much noise about the former Boilermaker until he started lighting up the G-League for the Salt Lake City Stars.
The combo guard had an amazing stretch of five games, averaging over 30 points per contest.
Originally drafted in hopes of being a microwave bench scorer for the C’s but showed few flashes mostly in unimportant games like preseason and in the Summer League.
When the lights actually came on in the NBA season, his Celtics tenure in two seasons was uneventful and forgetful.
Pepperidge farms probably remembers the type of knockdown shooter he was during his March Madness days, but for many like myself, it remains a distant memory.
I was shocked when Carsen Edwards was shipped out of Boston after what I felt was an incredible Las Vegas Summer League for him.
That last-ditch effort to stay with the shamrocks failed, but I did see the tides turning for the 5-11 guard.
He was starting to become a more well-rounded player by playing the passing lanes well defensively, pounding the glass for boards, running in transition, and making heady basketball plays.
Probably the leader of that stellar Summer League Boston Celtics squad.
The issue is we have seen Edwards shine when the lights are not on and the games are not as big. However, during an actual NBA season, he struggled to make the most of his opportunity.
I added him to this target list because I’m banking on his improvement as a player. Some guys take a while to find their niche and find a more unconventional way of sticking on an NBA roster.
The former second-round pick is far from done with his league pursuits.
Do any of these former Boston Celtics make sense for the current team? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!